Almerimar Marina – Costa Del Sol, Spain 31 January 2008

We left Puerto Santa Eulalia, Ibiza, late on Tuesday 28^th January based on a forecast of a window for the first 24 hours of north west winds to try and make our way to the mainland of Spain before the west and south west winds set in! No such luck, after 12 hours the north went out of the wind which became west 20 -25 knots, so we had no choice but to head south. Had we not left we could still be stuck there.

After a further 12 hours and another 60 odd nautical miles we were literally on our way to Algeria! But finally we got a little south in the wind and so we were able to change course heading for Cartagena on the mainland - or at least that was our wish! Fortunately with a help of the motor and AC being able to sail close to the wind we made it to the coast adjacent Cartagena on the Costa Blanca by 1pm Thursday and now thankfully we were in the lee of the land away from rough seas and the large swell! We followed the coastline south with help of the motor and rounded Capo Del Gata at around 4am in the morning and made our way down the Costa Del Sol coastline.

Knowing that the forecast was for strong, near gale, westerly winds by midnight on Friday we decided to head for Puerto Almerimar and the marina to take shelter – we didn’t want to risk heading into strong head winds overnight with the prospect of simply no shelter on this coast.

The truth is we simply didn’t want to risk being beaten up yet again!!!

We approached the harbour under radar and GPS because of fog, no wind and motoring and a few fishing boats to keep us on our toes. We were greeted by a very friendly port staff who assisted us to tie up, we did our paper work and were shown to our berth. Always fabulous to see some friendly helpful people!!

Overnight, indeed the westerly wind did kick in dramatically around 4am, to a point of 25-30 knots which has increased during today to 40 knots – naturally we were pleased we made the decision to take shelter!

We went off to the supermarket this morning to provision – is was obvious we were on the mainland – the choice was great – the packaging of the produce was amazing and the prices so reasonable. Being on Islands are expensive in terms of food particularly - Corfu, Malta, Ibiza where we have been!

After 3+ weeks from leaving Malta we are within 122 miles of Sotogrande, Spain, our next destination – just 20 miles north of Gibraltar – hard to believe it has taken so long to get 1000 nm! To get to this point we have spent 9 nights and 10 days at sea and 13 days and nights hiding from dreadful weather… Makes sailing to the Bay of Islands seem like an afternoon stroll!

We are going to have AC lifted out to sort out the knocking sound near the propeller. After that we need to push on and get moving to the Canaries and across the Atlantic. It is most likely that we will stopover in Gibraltar before we leave for the Canaries.

It looks like we will have a window tomorrow to leave and get to Sotogrande – we hope so!

Gosh Leg 2, Malta to Gibraltar, has been a rather tedious process!!

Keep you posted.

Love

The Jolly Rogers

Ibiza – 27 January 2008

We have been in Ibiza just over a week – in a marina in Santa Eulalia on the east coast for the last 7 nights. During which time we have had winds of up to Force 10 around the vicinity and between 25 – 45 knots in the marina. It was particularly bad on Friday through to Sunday with little sleep Friday night when it was at it’s worst – up and down readjusting fenders etc.

Fortunately we were in the lee of the Island – as you would do anyway – and the west coast received majority of the damage with 15 yachts and motor boats coming adrift onto the beach and another 5 sinking. We knew it was not good but managed to see some newspapers (in Spanish) yesterday and saw for ourselves that in fact Spain has experience quite a bit of devastation. It seems we were spared in this vicinity – thank goodness!

This has been a great place to stopover though – everything here in the way of provisioning and lovely bars and restaurants. It has a nice feel but can’t imagine what it would be like summer – it would attract and does attract heaps of visitors! We found a fabulous little café and bar where we had lunch one day – food was superb and in fact the best meal we have had for a long time ashore!

We have not ventured very far from the boat though as we didn’t want to leave AC unattended in the high winds!

It has been over 2 weeks since we left Malta so it certainly has been a slow journey west across the Mediterranean, however the upside it that we are within 380 miles of our next destination. As you can imagine we haven’t even considered tempting to push on from here – just watching the weather to wait for our opportunity which presents itself today! We want to try to get as close to mainland as possible and travelled down the coast. The forecast is North west going to west tomorrow which is not great but the wind is somewhat lighter so hopefully we will be able to motor as well. The forecast for the next two days is a variation of west, south west but all low in wind strength – so here’s hoping!

We want to get to Sotogrande (north of Gibraltar) and sort this knocking issue we have so the sooner we get there the sooner we can get on our way to the Canaries.

Will keep you posted.

Love The Jolly Rogers

Alphacrucis Malta to Gibraltar

Tuna Aboard.. A rare event in the Med


A Proud Moment.. Lois with her Prize


And one of the many very fine outcomes...Poached
Eggs, Hollandaise Sauce, Fresh Spinach atop Seared rare Tuna. An amazing
contrast to the conditions outside!

Position reports received for Terry & Lois along the way:
19/01/09
We arrived at the NE corner of Ibiza about 1300 today. A small haven called Cala Portinatx (3906N, 00130E). Had to backtrack hard on the wind from yesterday afternoon. The SW winds kicked in earlier and harder that predicted. We are lucky to have made the Island at all but did so by keeping AC hard on in 25-35 kts. The downside was discomfort and little rest. Did not fancy overshooting to be at the mercy of stronger winds between here and the Spanish coast heading in entirely the wrong direction toward Valencia.

However all was forgotten because as we were coming around the N/NE end of Ibiza Lois hooked a large Blue Tuna (A Bluefin??) and all thoughts of R&R faded in the excitement of the event. She had a line out most of the time since we left Malta. It is the first fish caught by us in the Med and the largest Lois has ever caught.

To get to this spot we were head into the winds again on the NE coast for about a two miles. It was quite a coordinated effort to turn in here, anchor, drop the reefed main and retrieve the fish in quite a small and windy space. As far as Lois was concerned the priority was the fish. We do not have the means to weigh it but with it's tail touching the deck it's snout was up to my waist (or at least where my waist should be!!

Don't know what our strategy from here is. When we do know we will make contact.

18/01/09
A different set of occurrences have just happened which you may find interesting.
We are currently motor sailing at just less than 5 knots on a course of 250 T. Star lit night and except for the drive train noise, very enjoyable. We are about 75 miles north of the Algerian Coast.
Cocktail hour was here and Lois was below finalising dinner. From the cockpit I saw a white flare arc upwards on our starboard beam/stern quarter. Who knows how far off but probably less than 5 miles?
Turned on VHF channel 16 and checked our Radar, called all ships, no answer. Lois came up to watch for more flares. There were none.
About twenty minutes later (I'm below by the VHF} Lois noticed a blip on our Radar about a mile away. She went on deck to check it out and saw a red light which at first she thought was the port light of a yacht's tricolour. A minute later she heard the roar of a helicopter. That was the red light. The helicopter flew around us by which time Lois had called me back on deck.
I called on our hand held VHF and received an immediate response "Are you in need of assistance?".."Negative, Negative we replied". I then told them we had seen a flare. They (Don't know who but a perfect American accent) said they had seen it as well. Asked where we thought it was. Replied that as far as we could guess it was between 000 and 030 Magnetic from our position, probably less than 5 miles, but hard to judge. We asked if we needed to show more lights? "No we can see you perfectly" they replied.
With that they zoomed off and we have not seen or heard from them since!!!
Anyway we have a ship to run and have given it our best shot...
Cheers
Terry and Lois on watch

17/01/09:
Day 08, Position: N3811,E00552, Miles to go: 563, Wind speed 15,Wind Dir: 080, Weather:Fine, Sea State: Moderate
Destination still Gibraltar but according to our info that is unlikely as the wind is predicted to turn to NW 20-30 kts on the 21st and W 25-40 on the 22nd. At worst hope to make Ibiza in the Balearics or if luck is with us we may reach the SE coast of Spain somewhere between Alicante and Cartagena before the weather becomes a "no go".
Whilst we were waiting in Sardinia we rewired our deck lights, fixed up the Mizzen but noticed the foot of our headsail was only being held together by the UV strip. Pulled it down ever so gently to check it out. Sailcloth just fell apart along a couple of transverse seams, not the stitching, the cloth itself. Just ran out of puff so to speak.
Hope to get a second hand (or maybe new) replacement in Sotogrande during our haul out. Meantime have our heavier and smaller unit in place and so far so good.
Last 18 hours have been Champagne sailing sans Champagne. All sails set, 15-20 knots on port quarter, 6 - 7 knots and only two ships all night...bliss.
This together with the previous messages should bring you up to date. We are in fine fettle.
Can't believe how good Sailmail has been for comms and Grib files given that the nearest station is in Belgium.

16/01/09
We are leaving to day trying to make either Ibiza or Mallorca - 350 miles. Forecast is for light south east and north winds for the next 2/3 days so will be motoring a bit. Then the wind direction is changing to the west again so will probably not be able to push on and have to wait it out.
We told you about the knocking sound between the engine and the propellor - well have decided to have her lifted out now and get a marine engineer to check it out with Terry. Fortunately we have friends who live in Spain (we met in San Diego through other people and caught up in Gibraltar on our way through to Italy over a year ago) in a place called Sotogrande just north of Gibraltar. As luck would have it they live in a resort which has a marina and a travel lift so they are checking out availability and costs and said we could stay with them whilst she is out of the water. We were going to stay a few days with them in their home anyway so this is a perfect solution!!

So that's it from our end. We are rested and organised as best we can.
Keep you posted.
Lots of Love Lois and Terry

14/01/09
Day: 05, Position: N3854,E00849, Miles to go: 750, Wind Speed: 04, Wind Direction: 300, Weather: Fine, Sea State: Light
Current destination is Gibraltar but that could be via the Ballerics depending on weather.

We left Malta Saturday about 1400 hrs and arrived at this refuge about one mile west of the most southerly point of Sardinia at 0900 on Tuesday the 13th. After motoring until midnight on the first day the wind kicked in from the northwest on schedule. Next day hoisted the main and romped along into the second night having to drop the main about 2200 hrs. Should have done that during daylight hours of course. By this time the weather became uncomfortable building to gale F8 and probably a bit more with squalls and rain to make locating sea traffic in the "rain clutter" a little challenging. Above the cloud cover was a nearly full moon which from time to time afforded myopic and dull illumination. The new deck lights we fitted in Corfu failed inconveniently at this point.

The last night had only direction and speed in its favour. With reefed headsail and mizzen we were overpowered so had to drop the mizzen which we achieved without using the engine. Lois did the deck work in sh....ty conditions whilst feeling very poorly. What a Girl!!!

After dawn we eventually sighted the cape with about half a mile of visibility and awful seas. Saw it on radar of course. Was hard to believe there was any shelter any where but at times like these the old adage "Trust your instruments Captain" came to mind.

We made it and there was shelter of sorts but it took us over an hour to make it against gale force winds under motor (we have a problem somewhere in our drive chain..tried to get to the bottom of it in Malta.. That and any outcome will be reported separately.)

Later in the day the weather moderated and we shifted further in to this cove to enjoy relative peace and much needed rest. As expected winds have gone to the northwest so we wait here until they become favourable for the next leg or two.

13/01/09
We arrived at 9am this morning into a little bay near Porto Malfatano on the southern tip of Sardinia to shelter from the gale conditions we had experienced in the last 24 hours! What with loads of traffic for the first two days and then the rough seas and wind in the last 24hours we have not had much sleep! Poor Terry had to be on watch practically all the time in the last 24 hrs as I was not feeling well, however I didn't abscond from my deck duties! Anyway we didn't continue on mainly because there is going to be a change in the wind direction in the next few hours which will stop us for getting any more west! We will stay here until the wind direction is right! We are now comfortable and be much improved by catching up on some sleep. Terry will give you an official update tomorrow. Just about to have a drink and nice meal.

We are one third on the way at least!
Keep you posted!
Love Lois and Terry

Patrick and Oliver (Grandson) Vella


Robert Zammit and Lois


Debbie and Simon Vella


Us in amazing ruins in Albania


Looking forward to 2009 and hope you you are too.........

HAPPY NEW YEAR – MALTA 7 JANUARY 2009

Happy New Year to you all – trust you had a festive season or are continuing to do so?

We arrived in Malta on the 22^nd of December after nearly a 3 day sail from Corfu. Having waited for approximately 2 weeks for the wind from the North we were not disappointed as after motoring 12 hours the wind kicked in from North and we had a great sail with wind on our starboard beam and quarter! In fact we did not put the main sail up as we were doing between 6.5 knots and 9 knots on a headsail and mizzen with the head sail reefed – overall the wind speed was between 25-40 knots! However I must admit I didn’t feel that comfortable – hopefully it is because I haven’t been to sea for 7 months, if not, I clearly need to ‘toughen up’ as we have a long way to go yet!!!

The seas were rough, however we were reasonably comfortable. It was challenging on our last night when we were meeting traffic heading and coming from the Messina Straits and beyond. Terry and I both ended up on watch all night as the majority of the vessels (much larger than us) did not change course and because we were under sail it was more difficult to alter our course. We were very pleased to arrive in Malta around 8.30am, tie up, and have a good coffee (drinks waited until 6pm)!! We were met by our friend who runs the marina here, Chris, who has kept our berth here since the 10^th of December – we were very grateful given the difficulty of securing a berth at all!

We had a busy few days leading up to Xmas as our refrigeration cooling pump failed en route from Corfu so Terry has to secure another – which he finally manage to do without importing it from England with the help of our friend Robert Zammit!! In addition we were just about out of gas – oh Xmas day without gas – can’t imagine that! And of course obtaining a Malta number – not to mention loading our wine supplies on board which fortunately we had ordered in advance!! We managed to achieve everything in those 3 days – just!!!

It was strange to be leaving Corfu after nearly 3 months in the vicinity – 2 and half of those in the marina. Although we were fairly occupied with our job list we made some great friends and had the appropriate Thanksgiving and Xmas celebrations with turkey dinners etc. We had a little Xmas get together on AC and we all experienced my homemade Xmas pudding and I am delighted to report it was a hit!!

During the last couple of weeks in Corfu we went with some friends over to Albania for the day by private vessel and viewed some excellent ruins in the Butrint National Park which represents Hellenistic buildings of the 4^th century BC to the Ottoman defences created in the 19^th century! What was unique was that most of the buildings are fairly intact, unlike many of the ruins we viewed elsewhere in Greece! We took in the produce markets as well and had a delicious lunch – certainly a highlight of our visit to this area!

It has been wonderful to catch up with our friends we made last winter here in Malta. We went to a party up in Valletta the second night in port at Robert’s restaurant opposite St John’s Cathedral. Valletta was looking so festive with all the decorations – even better than last year!

Xmas day we had friends , the Pullicino family - Joseph, Michelle and their 3 children for brunch which was a very relaxing fun day! We didn’t get around to having our duck etc as they didn’t leave until 6 pm and then another group popped in to wish us Merry Xmas. So we had our Xmas lunch on boxing day – delicious it was too!!

The social gatherings continued; a couple of days after Xmas Simon and Debbie had us at their home along with the Pullicino family! We also met Debbie’s Dad, Patrick holidaying from England and subsequently has been to AC a couple of times – first time on a sail boat – there you go!!!! New Year’s eve was celebrated also with Joseph, Michelle and a few of their friends at their home for dinner. Robert and Antoinette took us to a Pantomime at the Convention centre (Robert is a Director of the Convention Centre) on Sunday evening which was fantastic – a very professional production - we were most impressed – such a highlight! As good as Broadway or the West End.

We have been most fortunate to have so many friends here – they have been so generous and wonderful to us – we will miss them! Of course we are now working hard on persuading all of them to come visit us in NZ!!!

Terry has now fitted the new refrigeration cooling pump and we also had a specialist check the entire system to alleviate any further problems – happy to report he couldn’t find anything amiss!!! So here is hoping as we are going to spend a lot of time at sea in the next couple of months and we need the refrigeration working!!

We are counting down our last days here now! We are watching the weather and it is looking good to leave on Saturday (10^th). (Tomorrow). It is one 1000 miles to Gibraltar and the prevailing wind is West so we will see how we go? We may have to do a bit of tacking. At best it will be 8 days and at worst it may take us a couple of weeks!

This will be leg 2 of our journey home to NZ. We are hoping that all going well we will be in the Caribbean by middle to end of March. Then we will spend a couple of months in the Windward Islands before making our way across to Panama and through the canal. A few days stopover to visit our friends Willie and Mary in Panama and then our journey into the Pacific via Tahiti again. We envisage being back in NZ around mid September.

Once we leave Gibraltar our good friend Murray Aldridge will keep the blog updated regularly to let you know how we are going.

We have a Malta number until tomorrow +35699859941 and then we will be on our UK number +447787793398 which we will keep until the Canary Islands and then relinquish.

Take care and hope 2009 brings you all good health, happiness and prosperity.

Lots of Love

The Jolly Rogers – Homeward bound!